Carl Gunther Schweitzer

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Carl Gunther Schweitzer (born December 21, 1889 in Charlottenburg , † June 20, 1965 in Bonn ) was a German Protestant theologian .

Life

Schweitzer was born as the son of Jewish merchants in the then still independent Charlottenburg near Berlin. In 1892 the parents had their son baptized. The son only found out about his Jewish parentage at the age of 12, when his parents were also baptized. Influenced by his confirmation lessons with Hermann Freiherr von Soden , he studied Protestant theology in Tübingen , Halle (Saale) , Bonn , Erlangen and Berlin . In Halle he became a member of the Halle Wingolf . There he came across Helmuth Schreiner , with whom he had a lifelong friendship. He was also on friendly terms with his federal brother Paul Tillich . Important teachers at the theological faculty were Martin Kähler and Friedrich Brunstäd . In 1914 he volunteered and was seriously wounded in the war.

After the ordination , Schweitzer became a pastor in Butterfelde , but moved to the Garrison Church in Potsdam as early as 1919 . In 1921 he was charged with an assisted by Brunstad work on Bismarck's foreign policy and his Christianity Dr. phil. PhD. In the same year he founded the Apologetic Central Office for Weltanschauungsfragen at the Central Committee of the Inner Mission under the leadership of Reinhold Seeberg , of which he was director until 1932. Together with Walter Künneth , who became his successor in 1932, he edited the magazine Wort und Tat and other publications, and with Fritz Künkel the magazine Arzt und Seelsorger . At the Johannesstift in Berlin-Spandau , where the Apologetic Center had been housed since 1926, he also carried out extensive teaching activities.

In 1931 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Rostock . In 1932 he became superintendent in Wustermark . In September 1933 he was one of the co-founders of the Pastors' Emergency League , which opposed the German Christians . His Jewish descent and his involvement in the Confessing Church , which emerged from the Pastors 'Emergency League, led to his removal from office as superintendent in January 1934 (he was reinstated in his pastoral position after a few months), and in March 1935 to several days' imprisonment. The Hallenser Wingolf also excluded Schweitzer, who once belonged to the “Executive Committee” of the Philistine Council (federal executive committee of the Alter Wingolfiten Association ), because of his Jewish descent in October 1935 under pressure from the National Socialists .

Schweitzer was forced into early retirement in 1937 and moved to Munich , where he joined a circle around the publisher Albert Lempp . In 1939 he fled to Great Britain , where he was interned as a German at Oxford after the war began. Thanks to the efforts of Bishop Bell of Chichester , he was released and then taught young emigrants from Germany at the Training Center for Post-War Christian Service in Wistow / Leicester.

In 1947 Schweitzer returned to Germany and, despite all the hardships inflicted on him, soon turned back to Wingolf, who took him back in 1950. In 1962 he also became a member of the Bonner Wingolf .

Thanks to the support of Helmuth Schreiners, Schweitzer received a teaching position for social ethics at the University of Münster . In 1949 he became the first director of the Evangelical Academy in Friedewald (Westerwald) . After his retirement in 1954, he moved to Bonn, where he accepted a teaching position for internal mission and social ethics at the university . In 1959 he received the Great Federal Cross of Merit .

Schweitzer was married to Paula Vogelsang. The marriage resulted in three sons, including the theologian Wolfgang Schweitzer and the political scientist and SPD member Carl-Christoph Schweitzer .

Fonts (selection)

  • Our position on the Christian community . 1923.
  • (Ed. With Walter Künneth) Freethinking and Church. A manual. Wichern-Verlag, Berlin-Spandau 1932.
  • Luther speaks. Lutterworth Press, London 1947.
  • Evangelical Church and Social Justice . Wichern-Verlag, Berlin-Spandau 1950.
  • From Luther to the modern industrial world. Lutheran Publishing House, Berlin 1957.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Schweitzer, Carl Gunther
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Protestant theologian
DATE OF BIRTH December 21, 1889
PLACE OF BIRTH Charlottenburg
DATE OF DEATH June 20, 1965
Place of death Bonn